Summer Closes

Summer Camp

     Sis got to attend a cheerleading camp this summer with her new neighbor friends. I think she really enjoyed it. They did floor routines, cheers, and stunts.

Ninja Date

      One day, Little Man and I took Guess Who? to Kaleisia Tea Lounge for drinks, spring rolls, and shared dessert. It's one of our favorite things to do.

Family Fun Nights

     Speaking of youtube...the kids got idea for taste challenges somewhere, somehow. We decided to do a Oreo Mystery Taste Challenge. Since I don't eat Oreo's, I was the one who bought the different flavors, blindfolded the contestants, and ran the show. They ate half of a cookie and wrote down their flavor guess. I actually can't remember who won? I'll ask them later and edit this if one of them remembers. It was fun, though, and instigated plenty of laughter and silliness.

          Next up, on another random night was the Hint Water Challenge.

     They had to guess the unidentified flavors and again, write down their answers, and I determined the winner. They had me do it next on my own, and it really was difficult to decipher between all of the tastes.

Tornado's First Job

     Tornado got to work for three weeks at the Autism Awareness Shop. He had the opportunity to work at a real job, hanging up clothes, pricing objects, putting things on shelves, etc. It was a good experience for him. He had a bit of a rough first hour (which is information he said is fine for me to share on this blog), which reminded me how difficult it will be for him to have a job one day. It's all a lot to think about. Once he got past the first rough hour, he did marvelously and was able to pick one thing from the shop each week to take home as his "payment."

Extra Blessing

 

    Speaking of baby fever (which will never go away for me), we have been so excited that one of our friends in Florida was expecting a baby. We were so invested haha - like the day she was going to find out if she was having a boy or girl, I just refreshed social media all day. :)

 

     Sis and I went to her baby shower. She is, of course, as sweet and cute as her photos.

Fitness

     Ok. Posting this as motivation. It's good to make your goals known. I have gained almost all of the weight back that I lost when I turned 40. Part of it is from being busy with moving and life. Part of it is my depressed nature that can kick in sometimes. And part of it, I wasn't born with the skinny gene but instead a wonky metabolism. Plus, I don't have a thyroid, and taking a pill everyday just isn't the same as having your body work naturally as it should. It really is always a struggle.

Birthday

     Not the best photo to post immediately after talking about losing weight..I increased another digit. Sis and Ninja assembled my mousse with berries and Theo's pb cups. I would always choose mousse over cake. My birthday wish remained the same as it does every year. I don't think I can say it though, right? I think I might have said it on here before. As I type this over 6 months later, it's on track to coming true. Also, I'm grateful for life. (I think that makes #488: Hey, I just decided I'm going to get back to listing these, working toward 1000.)

 

     For my birthday, I headed "home."

      She's working so hard paddling while I'm taking selfies.

     My friend Angie and I went took a short canoe trip on James River in Galena, MO. I had been determined to go floating for years now, and I hadn't had a chance. So I decided, by golly, I'm going for my birthday. I think I have only been one other time in my adult life, which is crazy. I had a few canoe experiences when I was young.

 

      We brought a picnic lunch with us.

     On the night of my birthday I went with two of my friends to Cafe Cusco, one of my favorite restaurants in Springfield, Missouri. Thankful for rivers, canoes, and these two. (#489-491)

Speaking of Grateful...

      At my age, it's an interesting thing to glance at my three big kids and realize how different our lives would be had we not went forth with having Number Four. They're all pretty old and self-sufficient. There wouldn't be toys lying around and crying and so much chaos. I also wouldn't have so much of this. I tell him every day how happy I am that we have him in our lives. (#492)

 

         I'm in no hurry for him to grow up completely. I'm so thankful for those sweet little hands. (#493)

Vegan Food

     At some point I became obsessed with watching youtube videos. Not when I should be doing something else. Like when I'm in a waiting room. Or washing dishes or folding laundry, etc. I have gained a lot of inspiration for life through this newest obsession. One of my favorite things I discovered is this two ingredient quinoa bread. (#494)

 

      Listen, if you aren't into health food and you're not really interested in eating more whole foods or less gluten/flour products, then these probably aren't for you. The base of it all is pretty bland. You can add whatever spices you want, though. I am looking forward to trying lots of combinations. For me, this whole idea is kind of life changing. I made a bunch of them, froze them, and only took out two or three thin slices to eat with my salad each day, rather than eating chips or bread on the side.

House Progress

 

     I had kind of forgotten about this moment and this photo. This was the first room that was "done." (Thank goodness! #495) I mean, stylistically I was still moving things around and deciding what looks best on the mantel, etc. But the room was cleaned out. No boxes. "Could have company sitting around it" kind of ready. Now on to the rest of the house!

Furry Family Members

 

     Ranger, Mabel, and Gertie

          Have I mentioned how much I love my kitties and taking pics of them? I have? Here it is again...

          My beautiful baby girl is named Ranger. Ninja named him that after my grandfather, who was a Ranger in WWII. We thought she was a boy. She just seemed so different than the other two. Her nipples weren't really present. She was the runt, though. Why did we think she was a boy?! It's all a little blurry right now. We didn't find out until she was like 6 months old, and we were getting ready to take her to get "neutered." I started looking and thinking hmm...I felt like such a bad cat grandma! I have apologized to her a lot since then. I gave Ninja the choice of renaming her something girlier, but he chose to let it stick. Now we say her name is Ranger Ruth.

I'm very grateful for Cali and her 3 babies.

(#496-499)

           I took this photo after I put together their new "little" toy. I'm grateful Ryan didn't kick me out when he saw this in his home. (#500)

 

 

     If anyone is curious, we do still have our puppy babies. I'm grateful that we still have them healthy and sweet at 9 years old. (#501-502)

 

      Do they get along with the cats? They do! Squeals.

Days Out with Friends

summer movie with our buds

and one day with them at the trampoline park

     Tornado doesn't always want to play. But he does appreciate the trampoline places. He had a lot of silly fun this particular day.

Discovering Florida

 

     I wanted one last little adventure before the new school year officially started. I had discovered the cute little town of Gulfport recently with friends. I took the kids one day to visit. It's technically a part of St. Petersburg. I adore this area. It's worth a stop if you are in the area.

 

      We went on a Tuesday for Gulfport Fresh Market, when the streets are lined with vendors. 

 

 

     We ate lunch at the very cute (and vegan friendly) Pia's Trattoria.

 

     We got to walk by Golden Dinosaurs, a new plant based restaurant that has been receiving good reviews.

         The kids ordered two desserts to share and enjoyed it on the patio.

     1st grade, 6th grade, 8th grade, and 12th grade: 

we are ready for you!

     Grateful for days like this. (#503)

(having some difficulty with my spacing and font changes - haven't figured out how to change that yet)

January 19

The girls got groomed today! (I wish they would leave the ribbons in their hair all of the time.)

This is the before shot.

Poor things could barely even see.

It's a whole new world for them now.

The Rest of Our Weekend

Didn't get many pictures from our visit to my brother's house. My parents were there, too, along with all of my siblings and their families. I'll say it for the one thousandth time how much I love my family. I don't know when I've seen Dash in a deeper sleep than after we came home late Friday night. He was on the go with cousin Owen. They were all about playing dinosaurs and riding bikes outside. He was literally speeding away from us full throttle when we were trying to get him into the car to leave. All of the kids played together well, though. My youngest nephews, Pierson and Rush, get cuter and happier by the day, I think. I think they might end up being the sweetest ones yet. I've probably said that about all of them, though.

Cary, Ryan, and I went to watch New Moon Thursday night. Tracy was supposed to wait to see it with us, too. Cary got it out of her one day that she already went without us. But I think maybe she told Cary not to tell me. (The "don't tell her/him I told you this, but" 's get very confusing in my family. It's hard to keep track of what you're supposed to tell and not tell.)

Thursday, I said to Tracy, "It's going to be so fun going to see the movie since we all waited to watch it together!"

Wait for it..."Yeah!" she said.

"I mean, you haven't seen it yet, right?" I pressed.

"Oh, no," she assured, like just the idea of it was absurd. I waited for several seconds before calling her out for the liar and sell-out that she is. I'm just teasin' ya, Trace.
One picture I did get...I came home from the movie to find this peaceful, little scene. This makes my heart very happy looking at it. Six of the loves of my life, all huddled together, having a little sleepover. It won't be long before the other three can join in.

Remember this picture I posted a few months ago? That's my dad and brother, and although they have their differences (Dad is quieter and more introverted like me; Matt is more like Mom in the opposite way.), their similarities are funny and plentiful.

And they just get funnier by the day. This is how we caught them sitting next to each other.

In other news...

The girls got groomed. They came home looking like completely different dogs. We had thought we were feeding them too much, and they were getting fat.

Turns out, it was just all of their hair.

Terrible Two's

So...our puppies are basically going through their terrible two's, I think. We can no longer leave anything at all on the floor or within reach. They really like to rip paper into shreds. Here is a toilet paper/stick (that Dash had brought inside)/paper mess I discovered.
It's a good thing they're so gosh darn cute.
Right?
It's really not so bad. They just need a little more supervision right now and a lot of chew toys.

chewing on Papaw's shoestrings how they sleep together...look back here if you missed the first post about the pups